Opportunity Zone Magazine Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 52

52 OPPORTUNITY ZONE MAGAZINE | VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 3 OPPORTUNITY ZONES AND ECONOMIC IMPACT: A PRACTICAL FUND APPROACH By Natalie Elder, Leonard Mills and Stephanie Smith The OZ program is built to enable sustainable and positive economic impact, and the approach to doing so is practical. Here are the tools. The Opportunity Zone (OZ) program has started to take shape in communities nationwide. And with things getting off the ground for participants in the OZ market, it’s critical that proponents stay on course with the true intent of the policy. But what does economic impact in OZs mean exactly? And how can Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF) help achieve this desired impact? DEFINING ECONOMIC IMPACT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN OZs Commentators have ascribed a myriad of economic policy goals to the OZ provision of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017. Since this legislation is tax policy, it is beneficial to follow the policy goals as articulated by the Internal Revenue OPPORTUNITYZONE.COM